Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts
the stars to flight.

And, lo, the hunter of the east has caught the sultan’s turret in a noose of light

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable – Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain.

Cosas de España

Another serious outage . . .

In his latest blog post – The battle for Spain – Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas explains why he’s no fan of the right-of-centre parties. Lenox advises that: A useful way to check unlikely stories is to go to the fact-checkers Maldita  or Newtral, as they both have a reputation to maintain, so they don’t publish whoppers.

How to buy land and build a home on it in Spain. Be prepared to be presented with a bill from the local council for the pavement along your front border, it it has to be constructed.

I’ve said that the Spanish – at least in Pv city – have become crazier about dogs than even the British. . . . I adduce in evidence the VdG’s lead article this morning. . . How to obtain a dog license: Spaniards who already own a dog will not have to take the training course prepared by the Ministry of Social Rights when the Animal Welfare Law is approved. Only new owners will have to do so. The training can be done online, will be free, will last c. 4 hours, and will be valid indefinitely. Vets and animal behaviour specialists will be exempt. The ministry will develop a digital platform to deliver the course, which will include concepts on animal welfare, legal obligations of owners, and information on pet management.

Cousas de Galicia

A reader – David in La C? – advises that the train station in Ferrol is on the edge of town, necessitating a taxi trip for most folk. The same is true of Pv city and it’s my experience that both bus and train stations are thus located throughout Spain, very often cheek by jowl. This is pretty true of Tui but, in contrast, not of Valença across the nearby border in Portugal.

I wondered why, last week, a young man was climbing up the wall of a building in Pv city’s main square. Now I know why . . . There’s a (new?) sport – escalada urbana, or urban wall climbing/’buildering’. It doesn’t seem to involve a safe harness but, instead, makes do with a mattress on the pavement.

The Latest Insane Pronouncements of the Jester

Click here if you want to know more about Trump’s multi-billion Golden Dome suggestion to the military. Which, of course, ‘They all loved’. You’ll also learn about Trump’s fantasy income numbers. An added bonus is Hesgeth’s latest bout of ass-licking sycophancy. Plus more of Trump’s blatant lies about prices. And his pathetic claim that the USA is now well-respected around the world. As if. . . A fantasising malignant narcissist with a finger on the nuclear button. More than a tad worrying. Even, one assumes to members of the Republican party, currently impersonating eunuchs.

Trumpworld/LA LA Land

In a display of staggering, jaw-dropping ignorance, Trump’s choice as Secretary of Homeland Security asserted that Habeas Corpus is a right given by the Constitution to the president to suspend the rights of and deport whomever he wants to. Which is a statement that could not be more wrong, given that Habeas Corpus is the centuries-old bedrock of democracy and – as a fundamental safeguard of individual liberty – is a vital protection against the whims of both absolute rulers and authoritarian ones like Trump. See text here and a video here. At least she’s not cosplaying a plumber, a welder, an ICE warrior, etc., etc. And might well be without her usual massive hair extensions.

Russia v. Ukraine

• Trump’s calls with Putin are worth nothing – no matter how much the US president enjoys them.
• Trump claims his two-hour phone call with Putin went ‘very well’, but it is the Russian president who calls the shots,

The Way of the World/Quotes of the Day

From Wasteland, by Robert Caplan, that I’ve just started to read:-

• Democracy, when weak and unstable, and conducted in a context of tottering institutions, is no guarantee against tyranny.
• The more abject the disorder, often the more extreme the tyranny to follow.
• In truth, order must come before freedom because without order there is no freedom for anyone.

Net Zero

Interesting to read that ‘renewable energy champion Denmark is looking again at nuclear.’ Indeed, reversing its nuclear phase-out. Unsurprisingly , , The immediate impetus for the resolution appears to have been the recent blackout in Spain and Portugal, which has been generally attributed to the lack of synchronous generation on the power grids of those countries. Belgium is doing the same thing, it’s reported here. Where a larger question is posed.

Spanish

• Bildering: Buildering
• Bote: Boat, pot, bottle, jar. But also, it seems, a tip (propina). Pon por la bote. Perhaps the equivalent of a ‘kitty’.
• Busto: Bust, breast, chest. And also bust, as in a statue of a head.
• Salitre: Salt, saltpetre. But also used – it seems – to denote, on a menu, seafood items that is/used to be preserved with salt

Finally . . .

More extracts from The Pillow Book written a lady-in-waiting to the 11th century Empress of Japan. Quite revealing. Always interesting and occasionally amusing:-

NICE THINGS

• One has carefully scented a robe and then forgotten about it for several days. When finally one comes to wear it, the aroma is even more delicious than on freshly scented clothes.
• Letters are commonplace enough, yet what splendid things they are! When someone is in a distant province and one is worried about him, and then a letter suddenly arrives, one feels as though one were seeing him face to face. Again, it is a great comfort to have expressed one’s feelings in a letter even though one knows it cannot yet have arrived. If letters did not exist, what dark depressions would come over one! When one has been worrying about something and wants to tell a certain person about it, what a relief it is to put it all down in a letter! Still greater is one’s joy when a reply arrives. At that moment a letter really seems like an elixir of life.
• I love white, purple, and black clouds, and rain clouds when they are driven by the wind. It is charming at dawn to see the dark clouds gradually turn white. I believe this has been de scribed in a Chinese poem that says something about “the tints that leave at dawn”. It is moving to see a thin wisp of cloud across a very bright moon.
• Sympathy is the most splendid of all qualities. This is especially true when it is found in men, but it also applies to women. Compassionate remarks, of the type “How sad for you!” to someone who has suffered a misfortune or “I can imagine what he must be feeling” about a man who has had some sorrow, are bound to give pleasure, however casual and perfunctory they may be.
• Features that I particularly like in someone’s face continue to give a thrill of delight however often I see the person. With pictures it is different. If I look at them too often, they cease to attract me; indeed, I never so much as glance at the beautiful paintings on the screen that stands near my usual seat. There is something really fascinating about beautiful faces. Though an object such as a vase or a fan may be ugly in general, there is always one particular part that one can gaze at with pleasure. One would expect this to apply to faces also; but, alas, there is nothing to recommend an ugly face.

IRRITATING THINGS

• It is very annoying, when one has visited a Temple and has retired into one’s enclosure, to be disturbed by a herd of common people who come and sit outside in a row, crowded so close together that the tails of their robes fall over each other in utter disarray. I remember that once I was overcome by a great desire to on a pilgrimage. Having made my way up the log steps, deafened by the fearful roar of the river, I hurried into my enclosure, longing to gaze upon the sacred countenance of Buddha. To my dismay I found that a throng of commoners had settled themselves directly in front of me, where they were incessantly standing up, prostrating themselves, and squatting down again. They looked like so many basket-worms as they crowded together in their hideous clothes, leaving hardly an inch of space between themselves and me. I really felt like pushing them all over sideways. Important visitors always have attendants to clear such pests from their enclosures; but it is not so easy for ordinary people like me. If one summons one of the priests who is responsible for looking after the pilgrims, he simply says something like “You there, move back a little, won’t you?” and, as soon as he has left, things are as bad as before.

MEN

• Men really have strange emotions and behave in the most bizarre ways. Sometimes a man will leave a very pretty woman to marry an ugly-one. Surely a gentleman who frequents the palace should choose as his love the prettiest girl of good family he can find. Though she may be of such high standing that he cannot hope to make her his wife, he should, if he is really impressed by the girl, languish for her unto death. Sometimes, too, a man will become so fascinated by a girl of whom he has heard favourable reports that he will do everything in his power to marry her even though they have never even met. I do not understand how a man can possibly love a girl whom other people, even those of her own sex, find ugly. I remember a certain woman who was both attractive and good-natured and who furthermore had excellent hand-writing. Yet when she sent a beautifully written poem to the man of her choice, he replied with some pretentious jottings and did not even bother to visit her. She wept endearingly, but he was indifferent and went to see another woman instead. Everyone, even people who were not directly concerned, felt indignant about this callous behaviour, and the woman’s family was much grieved. The man himself, however, showed not the slightest pity.

SPECIFIC PEOPLE

• I have never come across anyone with such keen ears as Masamitsu, I believe he could hear the sound of a mosquito’s eyelash falling on the floor.
• Lady Hyobu was not particularly good-looking; in fact, it was hard to find anything to recommend her. Yet she was always pushing herself forward in the palace. The Empress observed this and one day she mentioned how she disliked such behaviour. But out of malice everyone refrained from warning the lady.

OBSERVATIONS

• To feel that one is disliked by others is surely one of the saddest things in the world, and no one, however foolish, could wish such a thing on himself. Yet everywhere, whether it be in the Palace or at home in the bosom of the family, there are some people who are naturally liked and others who are not.
• Not only among people of good birth, where it goes without saying, but even among commoners, children who are adored by their parents naturally attract the attention of outsiders, and everyone makes a great fuss over them. If they are attractive children, it is only natural that their parents should dote on them. How could it be otherwise? But, if the children have nothing particular to recommend them, one can only assume that such devotion comes merely from the fact of being parents.
• I imagine that there can be nothing so delightful as to be loved by everyone – one’s parents, one’s master, and all the people with whom one is on close terms

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For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.

For those thinking of moving to Spain:–

• This is an extremely comprehensive and accurate guide to the challenge, written by a Brit who lives in both the North and the South and who’s very involved in helping Camino walkers.
• This post of mine contains several relevant articles from ThinkSpain.
• This article ‘debunks claims re wealth and residency taxes’. Probably only relevant if you’re a HNWI. In which case, you’ll surely know what that stands for.
• Getting a mortgage in Spain: Some advice on this challenge.